1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an all-terrain vehicle having a cargo deck provided above rear wheels, a pair of tire houses raised upward from a bottom of the cargo deck and formed in association with the rear wheels, and a folding rear seat provided above the rear wheels.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, all terrain vehicles (ATVs) have been commercially available which can travel on various terrains, such as mud, sand beach, snowy roads, and mountain roads. A well-known type of these ATVs has four wheels and a cargo deck provided above the rear wheels (for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,582,004 to Hamm).
Another well-known type of four-wheeled utility vehicles with a cargo deck at the rear part of the vehicle has a rear seat that is foldable forward (for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 6,994,388 to Saito et al.). In such a four-wheeled utility vehicle, the cargo deck space is expandable by folding the rear seat forward.
However, the four-wheeled ATV disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,582,004 to Hamm encounters a problem with providing the rear seat thereon as follows. More specifically, the above ATV has the rear wheel tire houses raised upward from the bottom of the cargo deck in order to secure room for the rear wheels.
Thus, where a rear seat that is foldable forward to expand the cargo deck space is provided on a front portion of the cargo deck, there arises a problem that the rear seat interferes with the tire houses. It is conceivable to solve this problem by extending a wheelbase or raising the position of the bottom of the cargo deck. However, the extended wheelbase or the raised position of the bottom of the cargo deck causes another problem that motion performance, which is critical for the ATV, is reduced.